


Lily’s in the Valley

by musicalawakening



Category: Dead Poets Society (1989)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, angst with a bit of fluff, marks are flowers, mentions of depression and suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 11:44:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19463302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicalawakening/pseuds/musicalawakening
Summary: Todd remembers the day clearly. He was 14, knowing that when he opened his eyes he would see his soulmates favorite flower tattooed on a part of his body.——or: Neil’s situation after Midsummer Nights Dream with a twist





	Lily’s in the Valley

Todd remembers the day clearly. He was 14, knowing that when he opened his eyes he would see his soulmates favorite flower tattooed on a part of his body. His birthday was on a Saturday, and the sun woke him up with the bright light shining in his room.

He yawned and rubbed his eyes before sitting up, and once he did he heard his mom walk into his room with a smile. She poked his side and sat next to him, and Todd took a deep breath. “Where do I look?” He asked in a soft tired voice, and she just shrugged. “Anywhere.”

He pulled up the sleeves of his sweater and saw a small patch of 3 red poppies. The colors were light, and the drawing itself was slightly small, not taking up all the space on his forearm. “Your soulmate seems wonderful, hun. Just remember from here on out, their emotions will reflect on the flower. Happy is how it looks now, sad is wilted. It changes.. and everything takes time.”

Todd has received that talk many times before, but this time he just nervously smiled and nodded before receiving a soft kiss to his forehead. His mom walked out of the room, and Todd was sat there staring at his arm. He remembers that throughout the years, before he met his soulmate at 17, the flower was wilted a lot of the time.

He came out as gay to his parents, who were accepting. He hoped the bundle of flowers on his soulamtes arm, since he was happy, reflected on him. He realized it did slightly help whenever he was happy, but still, he couldn’t do much.

Now, he was happily dating his soulmate, Neil Perry. The first day they met, Neil noticed the poppies on his arm and Todd noticed the small bundle of lily in the valley’s on the side of his hand. They laughed and smiled and cried that day, and Todd doesn’t ever remember being as happy as he was.

Right now he’s currently walking out of the theatre where all his friends watched Neil do his show as Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream. Todd checked his phone for the time, then they walked out to see Neil.

Todd noticed his father was there, which was never a good sign. His father wasn’t too accepting of Neil being gay, and he definitely wasn’t accepting of Neil wanting to be an actor. 

Neil walked out of the stagedoor and made eye contact with Todd, then to his dad. Todd managed to walk over to Neil and hug him, but Neil just sighed. “I have to go with my dad, Todd. I’ll text you, okay?” And before Todd could continue to talk, Neil was walking past him and brushing off all his friends to get in the car with his father, who had a glare. 

“Why does Mr. Perry have to do this all the time?!” Charlie almost shouted, before Knox came over and grabbed his hand to calm him down. He wished he could do that with Neil, but he couldn’t.

Mr. Keating sighed and motioned for them all to start walking back to Welton. As they walked in silence, Meeks tapped Todd on the shoulder. “Dude. Check the flower.” Meeks said, and Todd’s eyes went wide before he lifted up the sleeve of his suit and stopped in his tracks.

The flower was almost completely wilted. He knew Neil did have depression, that he knew, but something was just off. “I have to go to Neil. He can’t be alone.” Todd rushed, making all of the boys including Mr. Keating to stare at him and let their expressions turn to worry.

“Let me grab the car.” Knox said, and he ran off towards his car not too far away. Charlie walked over to Todd and pulled him into a hug, and Todd inhaled a shaky breath. His friends knew how to help him on the verge of a panic attack or what not, but he was on too much of an adrenaline rush.

Knox pulled up the car, and Charlie jumped in the passenger seat as Todd hopped in the back. Mr. Keating took Meeks and Pitts in his car and followed them. Todd was staring out the window as the trees flew past them, and he pulled out his phone to text Neil and constantly check the flower.

Me: we’re on our way to pick you up. please tell me youre okay?  
Neil<3: please dont. my dad is angry.  
Me: i dont care. get ready  
Read 12:04 AM

Todd puffed and put down his phone, and once they pulled up to the driveway everyone jumped out and walked to the front door. Todd knocked first, a look of ambition on his face. When the door opened to reveal Mr. Perry and Mrs. Perry in the back, he scanned over all their faces before talking. “Neil cannot see anyone right now.”

“I genuinely don’t care. You have to let us in. You’re ruining his life!” Charlie shouted, and Mr. Perry’s eyebrows furrowed. “Impossible!” “It isn’t. Look at Todd’s arm!” Knox said, knowing to back his boyfriend up. Todd lifted up his arm to see the flower wilted, and Mr. Perry’s expression got more angry as Mrs. Perry whimpered. 

“Please, Mr. Perry. This is your son.” Todd said, and Mr. Perry groaned. “I don’t want to hear anything coming from you, you goddamn flame.” Mr. Perry spat, and Todd’s face became red and before he can shoot back, Knox brushed past him and held Mr. Perry back. 

Mrs. Perry stepped to the side and Todd ran upstairs to Neil’s room, hoping to find his boyfriend. When he did, Neil was sitting on his bed crying with his hands over his face. Todd’s heart sunk, and he ran over to him and put a hand on his knee.

“Neil, I’m here.” Todd softly said, and when Neil looked up and made eye contact with him, they both flung their arms around eachother and Todd burst into tears for the first time that night. 

Todd left a small peck on Neil’s tear-stained and flushed cheek before pulling away and grabbing one of his hands. “Come on. We have to go.” Todd whimpered, and Neil shook his head. “My dad doesn’t want anything to do with me. Not unless I become a doctor.”

“Hey, hey, you know my parents love you. We’ll figure it out together, okay?” Todd said softly, and Neil just wiped his eyes before weakly nodding. He grabbed everything he needed in a small bag before holding eachothers hands and walking downstairs.

Knox and Charlie were still holding Mr. Perry back and arguing, while Meeks and Pitts stood to the side making sure everyone was okay and Mr. Keating talked to a sobbing Mrs. Perry. “Let’s go. Please.” Todd said to them, and they walked out first with Charlie and Knox last. Mrs. Perry was arguing with her husband on the porch as they got to their cars, and as they drove away Mr. Perry yelled at them.

Knox was driving silently with obvious anger in his expression, and Neil had his arms around his boyfriend. Neil had his head resting on Todd’s, and he was breathing somewhat unevenly. 

They all got back to their dorms silently, with Mr. Keating wishing them all to be safe. Once they got in the dorm, Neil broke down again on his own bed and gripped onto the blankets. Todd sat next to him and ran a hand through his hair, watching his boyfriend in pain without knowing what to do.

“Neil.. I’m here. You know that. Everything’s okay.” Todd said, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend again and pecking his forehead. “I-I was gonna do it. I really thought I was.. before-“ Neil broke down into tears again, and Todd knew exactly what he was talking about. They’ve had this discussion before.

Todd started wiping Neil’s tears with his thumbs, and his boyfriend started to slowly calm down. “I’m gonna get you clothes so you can change, okay?” Todd sniffed, and Neil just nodded. Todd got him clothes and as Neil changed, so did he. He decided to put on one of Neil’s sweatshirts, because he knew his boyfriend thought it was cute.

Once they were both done, Todd laid down next to Neil and ran a hand through his hair once again, watching his boyfriend take in deep breaths. “You did really fucking good tonight, Neil.” Todd said, which earned a groan from his boyfriend, who closed his eyes after that statement. “You really were. Probably the best Puck out there.”

Neil sighed and shrugged, and Todd grabbed his boyfriends hand where the soulmate mark was. He smiled softly and pecked the small bundle of white flowers, which finally earned a smile from Neil. Todd was content, and pecked his boyfriends lips before whispering a soft “I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! kudos and comments are greatly appreciated :)  
> twitter: @hansyrilow


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